Radish and Turnip flowers by student Allan Jarvis

This blog post features the lovely fruit and vegetable carvings of one of my student/customers, Allan Jarvis. Allan is in Queensland, Australia. In one of Allan’s first emails to me he told me that he was introduced to fruit and vegetable carving many years ago in Thailand but had not done too much until recently. He wrote, “The book I bought in Thailand is great but not enough steps… ” Shortly after, Allan joined our video lessons.

With spring celebrations like Easter, Songkran Festival and the Indian Festival, Holi coming up you might see some ideas here that you can use. continue reading…

Another watermelon cake by Mariano Orozco

In this blog post I ‘d like to share some fruit carving photos of a couple students of my video lessons.

Mariano Orozco of the Shark Shack in Hayward California is a student of all of my lessons. He got his first fruit carving video lesson from me a little over a year ago. He has clearly been practicing and his work gets better and better. Here are some of his photos his watermelon carvings.

Watermelon Cake Fruit Carvings

In these first 2 photos you can see that Mariano took the concepts I teach in my Watermelon Cakes video lessons and ran with them adding his own style. Beautiful aren’t they! continue reading…

Jana Phung carves one of her first watermelon roses

Have you ever wanted to carve watermelon roses?

To a newcomer, fruit carving can seem daunting. Especially when you see lots of photos of carvings by experts and pros.

Carving watermelon roses can be easier than it looks when you get good instructions.

Today, I’ll be showing you watermelons carved with roses by students . In many cases these are their first or second attempts at carving the rose design. Some have carved their rose patterns into watermelons and some have carved cantaloupe, honeydew and other melons. All of these students have learned to carve watermelon roses from my video lessons.

You can see from the first continue reading…

Sugar Dome Fruit Carving Winner on food Network, John Montgomery at The Carve IV with his 5th Place Winning Piece

Food Network recently aired an episode of Sugar Dome that included fruit carving. The fruit carver on the winning team was John Montgomery. Even though John did a great job and won, he can carve even more beautifully than he did on the Sugar Dome fruit carving competition. I’ve got photos to prove it.

The show gives contestants limited time to carve which creates the necessity to hurry, which results in less beautiful carvings than one is capable of. Let me show you how beautifully John can carve.

I met John a couple of years ago at The Carve III carving competition in Holland Michigan where we competed in the People’s Choice competition. We both attended continue reading…

What are the benefits of having a hobby that you enjoy? Here are just a few:

• Pure Enjoyment
• Stress Relief
• A Creative Outlet
• A Sense of Accomplishment
• Meet New Friends – or do something new with existing friends
• Reduced Memory Impairment in later years

Stuart Brown, M.D describes the vast benefits of having hobbies well in his book, titled “Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul”.  Dr. Brown says “When you’re using your imagination and have a heightened mood, you open possibilities that you wouldn’t think otherwise.” Because of this, he encourages busy people to find a hobby or time to play during hardship and stress.

The Unexpected Benefits of a Hobby Revealed in Mayo Clinic Study

The reduced memory impairment continue reading…

Thai Fruit Carvings at Loy Krathong Festival

In  my previous blog post, I published some amazing photos and video showing the colorful Thai Festival of Lights, Loy Krathong in Thailand.

The Thai community here in Southern California also celebrates Loy Krathong with festivals, fruit carvings and floating flowers. Unfortunately, the incredible flying candle lit lanterns shown in my previous blog article are not a part of the celebration here. The beautiful lanterns lanterns that float into the sky could easily start huge fire storms here in Southern California.

The Loy Krathong festival here does includes beautiful fruit carvings, and the traditional water floats. At last year’s Loy Krathong the fruit carving members of the local Thai Temple and I carved vegetables and fruits to decorate one of the booths at the festival. Here are some photos of the carvings. continue reading…

One of my customers of my All Lessons Collection, Tzipy Cohen recently sent me some photos of her lovely carved fruit centerpieces, stylish fruit trays, and buffet displays.

Take a look at these and you will get lots of great ideas for making fruit centerpieces, trays, and carving displays for your next event.

Tzipy has a business in Jerusalem, Israel offering vegetable and fruit displays and doing party planning. Tzipy is a customer of my All Lesson Collection. She wrote to me, continue reading…

August 3rd is National Watermelon Day in the United States

Did you know that that August 3rd is National Watermelon Day here in the United States? This delicious fruit is so well loved that it has been given its own national day! Watermelon is the perfect thirst quencher on hot summer days and although it is usually thought of as a sweet snack, watermelon can be used in savory recipes as well. Of course, if you are a fruit carver, you’ll know that watermelon is a popular fruit to work with because of its soft texture and beautiful contrasting colors.

My blog is full of watermelon carving ideas. But, given all the great qualities of watermelon, it seems fitting to mention National Watermelon Day on today’s post and share with you some fun and delicious ways to enjoy this versatile fruit! continue reading…

Patriotic Eagle Watermelon Carving by Robert Reynolds

After the recent July 4th celebrations here in the United States, several readers sent me photos of their patriotic watermelon carvings. It’s great to see that so many people are using their creativity with fruit carving to celebrate special events like July the 4th. In fact, vegetable and fruit carvings are a great addition to any special occasion and always get “ooohs” and “aaahs” from guests.

Today, I’d like to share photos of patriotic watermelon carvings by readers and students of my blog and carving lessons. All of their ideas are unique and I hope you pick up some new inspiration from seeing their work. continue reading…

Today, I want to give you an early look at some of the food art competitions and events coming up later this year. Food carving competitions are a great way to showcase the beautiful art of vegetable and fruit carving, and are an opportunity for like minded culinary enthusiasts to share and learn from each other.

Besides fruit carving, food art competitions and events can include cooking, ice carving, cake decorating and chocolate carving. Oh, and let’s not forget about a watermelon eating contest and watermelon face painting. Find out more about these fun and wacky fruit activities and how they are actually supporting a great cause! continue reading…

Hindu New Year Festivities in India

New Year wishes in April? No, I’m not four months late ringing in 2012! Although here in the West, we welcomed the New Year on January 1st, there are many cultures, religions and countries around the world that celebrate a New Year in April.

In this sense, the New Year may not mark the beginning of a new calendar year that many of us are familiar with; instead, the New Year may symbolize the start of a new beginning in one’s life and a letting go of the past. I thought that this would be a fitting topic to share with you since it coincides with the arrival of Spring and the new life that comes with this Season! continue reading…

A cute melon bunny fruit bowl for your Spring time Celebration

I love to celebrate Spring by making one of my easiest fruit carvings – a melon bunny fruit basket. This is my favorite time of year because everything is fresh and blooming and it really does feel like a new beginning.

Certain fruits start to come in season so it’s a great time to enjoy them and have a little fun by serving them in a melon bunny fruit bowl. Plus, kids will go wild for these melon bunny bowls and the fruit will disappear in no time! continue reading…

A carved pineapple eagle served with dinner on Jesse's cruise through Halong Bay, Vietnam

Today I’d like to invite you to go on a trip to Vietnam to see some exotic fruit carvings.

My nephew Jesse and his fiancee were recently traveled to Vietnam and had some pictures of amazing fruit carvings to show me.

Although I’m sure that seeing fruit carvings wasn’t the main high point of their trip, I’m glad they thought of me!

Actually, it was the 3 day “junk boat” tour through Halong Bay that was the real highlight.

Take a look at their photos and go on a mini-vacation without having to leave your home! continue reading…

Broccoli Christmas Tree with tomato garland by Michelle Parent

Last week I posted a video showing some ideas for vegetable and fruit carvings for Christmas. They were arrangements that would make Christmas pretty centerpieces. Here are some more great ideas for Christmas fruit and veggy carvings. Some simple and some more dramatic.

Easy, ‘No Carve’ Trees Make Festive Vegetable and Fruit Carvings for Christmas

After seeing the video with ideas for vegetable and fruit carving for Christmas, Michelle Parent made this lovely Christmas tree and sent me a photo today.

With this one continue reading…

Several of my students of my Carving Watermelons – Roses, Buds and Leaves video lessons recently sent me some photos of their rose carving.  And I am impressed!

These are excellent for first time carvers.

Tahir Ali Butt in Sydney Australia found my site in early March. When he ordered his VegetableFruitCarving lessons and tools he wrote:

Thursday March 3, 2011

….I believe I have found a new hobby. continue reading…

Today, I want to share with you some photos and an instructional video from Thai master carver and teacher, Wan Hertz.

Thailand is one of the countries best known for it’s beautiful fruit carvings.  And, Wan Hertz carves some of the finest Thai fruit carving that I have seen. The detail and intricacy of her carvings are amazing. Take a look at this one. Can you believe that she did this in only 3 hours? Look how complex the detail is! continue reading…

Kabocha Squash carved with Roses

Have you ever seen Thai fruit carving instructions that ask for Thai pumpkin? Or maybe the instructions just ask for pumpkin but it doesn’t look like the American pumpkin that you may be familiar with? That is what I experienced when first trying to learn fruit carving. Since then, my Thai friends and teachers have introduced me to Kabocha squash. This is what the Thai refer to as pumpkin. continue reading…

Honeydew carving can be easier than you think once you are shown how.

Here are a couple of melon carvings that I’ll be teaching in videos in my upcoming Carving of the Month Club.

Update: These Honeydew melon carving lessons are now available on DVD. Learn more about my Honeydew Carving Lessons by clicking this link.

Intermediate Honeydew Carving Video Lessons Available Now!

Honeydew flower carvings

These honeydew carvings were the two most requested melon carving designs of the photos that I posted in a previous blog post where I asked readers to vote for their favorite melons carvings that they would like to learn. continue reading…

Here is a mango carving that I did.

Mango carved with rose pattern

This one was actually quite ripe and a bit soft to work with. When carving mangoes, it’s best if you choose fruit that is not yet ripe. That way your carving details will look crisper and cleaner and they will last longer.  If you’ve got ripe mangoes in the pantry and you want to practice carving, go for it. Carve them and then you can admire your carvings and then eat them. continue reading…

I’m excited to announce that my new DVD “Carving Watermelons – Roses, Buds and Leaves” is now available in my shop.

It is a great introduction to Thai style watermelon carving. But don’t let the title fool you, is this video lesson you will also learn rose patterns that you can also carve into other melons and fruits like mangos and papayas.

Examples of Fruits carved with patterns taught in "Carving Watermelons - Roses, Buds and Leaves"

I created this video with beginners in mind, however, it’s also helpful for intermediate fruit carvers who would like to improve their watermelon carving techniques for carving delicate graceful roses. continue reading…